Sunday, May 25, 2014

Groundbreaking Educational Opportunities

Huge news with the announcement of a new program and how it
relates to you and your educational “must haves” broke last week. The program is Express Learning and it will be
held on the floor at GlassBuild America.In the past there were education sessions but they were usually in a
conference room a few floors about the exhibit hall.These sessions will be on the actual trade
show floor and be set in the perfect length for learning- 20 minutes. And did I
mention it’s FREE.So if you are an attendee
or exhibitor at the show, you can come to as many as you want- free of
charge.Some awesome subjects are on
the docket as well.Subjects that can
make a significant different in your business and approach like “Solving our
Workers Shortage” and “Help Architects Help You” have me pretty pumped.The info is here- so check it out- I’ll be
talking more about this as it gets closer, but needless to say this is
groundbreaking and it will be the best and most comprehensive opportunity you
can have to learn while attending the one event you HAVE to attend in
GlassBuild America.I’ve always said
those who don’t come to the show get left behind by their competitors… now with
this Express Learning program, its even more crucial you attend and be
involved.

Elsewhere…

-- By the way the one subject- “Solving our Workers Shortage”
should be front and center one everyone’s mind.This is basically a crisis right now, so any insight and education is
must.

-- An industry classic announced his retirement this past week…
Jim Roesing, President of Super Sky stepped down after leading that company
since 1987 and 47 years total in the business.I had the honor of working for a short time with Jim and it was a
tremendous experience.This is a guy
that changed the way the modern commercial Skylight was developed and installed
and a true pioneer.Plus he looks just
like the most interesting man in the world (from the Dos Equus commercials) and
easily can tell stories that would make him eligible for that title if it were
real.Our industry will miss him for
sure… enjoy the retirement Jim!!

-- The Katy Devlin blog from last week on Las Vegas was
excellent reading.The stories behind
the whole City Center project would make an amazing book.I wish I had the time, money, and talent
because I’d love to do it.So much from
the planning, the financing, the building, the problems etc. it would read
better than any thriller on the market today.Or at least a fun book for construction geeks like myself.

-- The Dodge Momentum Index had a nice jump in April after a
couple of down months.I think people
are now getting busy in every region, so the worry now is two fold… finding
workforce (as in noted above) and dealing with cash flow.Both issues really have a serious way of
dampening the enthusiasm of a busier stretch.

-- Last this week, I find myself rooting hard for the gang at
the Green Building Initiative and I believe you all should as well.I have been outspoken against LEED for its
various issues but I dislike nothing more than a monopoly for services or
ratings.LEED right now is the biggest
and baddest on the block but the Green Building Initiative is making inroads and
had two interesting releases recently.One was showing a diverse list of new projects that received their
certifications and another that compared their cost on a project to LEED.This one is worth the read, especially when
you see LEED’s cost in the six-figure range, while Green Building Initiative at
less than 10K.Competition is a very
good thing folks, lets hope this gets embraced because green building is only
going to grow; we need good and logical options to rate and certify it.

LINKS of the WEEK

-- The continuing decline of mental health is our world, all
summed on this story about Facebook posts.I’m not sure why mental health does not get the focus it deserves, but
it surely is a more pressing and serious issue than most of what we all talk
about these days.